Slatted conveyer pulley



Feb. 18, 1941. J. .1. NEUMAN SLATTED CONVEYER PULLEY Filed Jan. 30, 19593 Sheets-Sheet 1 nventor (Ittorneg Feb. 18, 1941. J. J. NEUMAN SLATTEDCOVEYER PULLEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2` Filed:4 Jan. 30, 1939 l'mventor(ttorneg Feb. 18, 1941. J. J. NEUMAN SLATTED CONVEYER PULLEY 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 30,' 1939 Snventor Gttorney Patented Feb. 18,1941 SLAITTED CONVEYER PULLEY l Jacob J. Neuman. South Salem, N. Y.,assignor to United States Patent Development and Royalty Company, SouthSalem, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application `lanuary 3l), 1939,Serial No. 253,696

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to slatted conveyer pulleysand moreparticularly to slatted conveyer pulleys for use on belt conveyershandling bulk materials of a sticky nature, such as raw sugar.

Slatted pulleys in general are employed to provent the adherence andsubsequent building up of the material on both the surface of the beltWhile the slatted pulleys which have been used in the past aresuccessful with some types of material, it has been found that withmaterials of a particularly sticky nature, notably raw sugar, thatunless frequentl cleaning is resorted to, the material wedges in thespaces between the slats and the pulley and then presents a continuoussurface to the belt and is in effect no longer slatted.

It is, therefore, the primary object oi.' this invention to provide aslatted pulley so constructed that the material is prevented fromwedging between the slats thereof.

A further object is to provide means for insuring positive lateraldischarge of the material from the inside of the pulley to preventmaterial collecting therein and eventually filling up the space withinthe bars or slats.

Another object is to provide a slatted pulley of the idler type soconstructed that the ball bearings thereof are totally enclosed andsealed from any possible contact with the material being conveyed,thereby prolonging their life, insuring enicient operation of theconveyers and guarding the material being conveyed from contamination bythe lubricant.

A still further object is to provide a simple clutch means ofdisconnecting the pulley from the driving shaft to render the conveyerinoperative.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention will 'be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claims appended hereto.

Figure 1 isa side elevation of the driving type pulley.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1 showing the construction of the slats.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section takenon the line 3-3 ofFigure 2 showing the construction of the end and reinforcing rings.

Figure 4 is an axial sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1showing the pulley mounted on a driving shaft.

(Cl. :IBS-203) Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 isl a side elevation ofthe idler type embodiment of the pulley.

Figure 7 is a section on the line 'I-l of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view partv ly in section of theidler of Figure 6.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly Figures 1 to'thereof, the open-work facing of the pulley is made up of the lateralslats or bars I0 which are equally spaced around the periphery of thereinforcing rings I Iand the end rings I2 and are all cast as one unit.The pulley is supported concentrically on the shaft by the spoke I3 andthe hubs I 4 (Figs. 4 and 5) of the end rings I2. The bars Ill are sospaced and the thickness thereof so proportioned that the spaces betweenthem are relatively large in proportion to the thickness of the bars.Furthermore, the thickness of the |bars decreases inwardly toward theaxis of the pulley said taper being so proportioned in relation totheoverall diameter of the pulley that the width of the spaces at I5 isconsiderably greater than at I6. It ls obvious that if the bars were ofuniform thickness along their depth, as heretofore constructed, that theinverse would be true and the spaces between bars would be less at I5than at I6. Since the pressure of the conveyer belt tends to force thematerial inwardly between the bars I0 it is easily seen that if thespaces decrease toward the axis of the pulley the material will tend topack therein. However, if the bars are tapered as described, anypressure from without immediately dislodges such material and it fallsinto the space inside the lattice formed by the bars II) and the ringsII. The rings I I are also tapered toward their axis (Figure 3). Inorder to free the pulley of the material which would otherwiseaccumulate therein the conical pieces I1 are provided within thebars Inland the rings II. These conical sections I1 are constructed with thelargest diameter thereof equal to the entirely enclose the shaft on theinside of the pulley.

Both the bars I0 and the rings Il 'are rounded at their outside edges(Figs. 2 and 3) to decrease the possibility of material caking thereon.and to reduce wear on the conveyer belt.

For added strength the bars l0 opposite each of the spokes I3 may bemade larger as shown in Fig. 2.

The collars I8 (Figs. 4 and 5) are secured to the hollow shaft I9 by thpins 20 and conform to the inside curvature of the strap pieces 2i and22 which are journalled on the bolts 23 each of which is in turn securedto one of the spokes I3. The opposite ends of the strap pieces 2l and 22are formed to receive the clamping bolts 24. It is thus seen that whenthe bolts 24 are tightened the strap pieces 2i and 22 will act to clampthe pulley securely to the shaft I9 and when-loosened allow it and thecollars I8 to rotate freely within the hubs I4. Sleeves 25 of a suitablewear resistant bearing material are provided between and held inposition by the hubs I4 and the collars I8. The clutch thus formed isespecially well adapted to use where several parallel conveyers aredriven from a single line shaft and it is desired to operate one or moreof the conveyers at a time selectively. Also this clutch is particularlywell adapted to use with conveyers carrying bulk materials of a stickynature such as raw sugar since the very small number of limitedly movingparts prevents it from becoming clogged with the material as is the casewith conventional clutches having a multiplicity of lmoving parts.

The line shaft I9 may be made up in short sections such as the onesshown and connected by the simple flexible coupling plates or discs 26which compensate for shrinkage of the shaft 'metaL due to temperaturechanges, as well as bearing misalignment.

Referring now to Figures 6, 7 and 8 the'invention is shown applied to asmall diameter or so called belt idler pulley which in use is employedto support the top and return runs of the conveyer belt between the headand tail pulleys as embodied in Figures 1 to 5. The construction issubstantially the same insofar as applies to the bars 21 and the rings28, which are cast integrally with the hubs 29. The hubs 29 in this casehowever, have 'no spokes and are formed to enclose the ball bearings 30totally which bearings are retained in position by the shoulder 29a(Fig. 8) and the sleeve 3|. The hub 29 is provided with the plate 32which is retained by the screws 33 and may be removed for bearinginspection or replacement. The bearings 30 are preferably of theenclosed type having grease retaining rings and a groove 34 is providedin the hub 29, through which additional grease may be added by means ofthe grease fitting 35 and the hole 36 in the outer raceway of thebearing 30. The shaft 31 is stationary and is mounted in any suitablemanner such as by the U bolts 38.

In conventional types of idlers the bearings are usually mountedexternally of the idler and the shaft and idler rotate asv a unit. Suchbearings are hard to keep in true alignment due to shifting of the steelsupporting framework whereas with the bearings mounted in the idleritself, this Adiiiiculty is entirely obviated.

With the embodiment of Figures 6, 7 and 8 vno discharge vcones arenecessary as the conveyer belt only rests tangentially on the top of theidler and any material forced through the bars by the belt' readilyfalls out at the lower side. With the larger type end pulleys of Figures1 to 5 the conveyer belt makes a complete half wrap and material fallingto the bottom cannot escape and must be discharged laterally.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such'changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A conveyer pulley comprising supports including hubs forming bearingsfor mounting on the pulley shaft, on open-work facing attached to andextending between said supports, said facing having openings therein ofcross-sectional area increasing toward the axis of the pulley, saidsupports also having discharge openings disposed substantially at rightangles to the openings in said facing, a cylindrical deflector betweenthe hubs within the facing shaped to deflect material falling throughthe openings in said facing and .out through the discharge openings, thelongitudinal extremities of said deiiector embracing the hubs to preventmaterial falling through the openings in said facing from entering saidbearing-forming hubs, a collar secured to said shaft adjacent each ofsaid supports ,and extending inwardly into the corresponding hub forsupporting the same on the pulley shaft, the outer end of each of saidcollars terminating in a disc head adjacent the outer face of saidsupports, a pair of strap pieces mounted on said supports in line withsaid disc heads and adapted to embrace the same, and adjustable meansfor clamping said strap pieces about said disc heads to connect saidpulley and shaft drivingly together.

2. A conveyer pulley for belt conveyers handling raw sugar and the likecomprising supports including hubs forming bearings for mounting on thepulley shaft, an open-work facing attached to and extending between saidsupports, a deilector between the hubs within the facing, said defiectorterminating at the hubs around said bearings to protect the latter fromthe raw sugar, a collar secured to the pulley shaft adjacent each of thehubs to provide a pair of disc heads disposed adjacent the outer facesof said supports, a pair of strap pieces mounted on said supports inline with respective disc heads and adapted to embrace the same, andadjustable means for clamping the strap pieces about said disc heads.

JACOB J. NEUMAN.

